Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

abacomike

28firefighter said:

Wishing all of my fellow posters who celebrate a L’Shana Tovah U’Metukah - A happy, healthy, and sweet new year to you and your families!

Hmm, I’m just guessing here, but are you wishing (those who celebrate) a Happy New Year in Hebrew?  How “Honey” sweet! 

jmonroe1

jmonroe1 said:

snakeweasel said:

abacomike said:

snakeweasel said:

abacomike said:

thebean said:

No excuse for shooting that poor cow. That guy should be fully prosecuted. I'm afraid if it had been my cow, I'd be in jail now for whipping that guy's rear-end severely. Only cowards do that stuff.

I wonder if the word “coward” was derived from a cowboy deliberately shooting a helpless “cow” with his Colt .45 while leaning “forward” in his saddle.  

Back in in those days (1860’s) shooting animals was as common as shooting humans.

So when you mentioned “...only cowards do that stuff...” I put 2 and 2 together and came up with “cow shooters”! 

By 1860's I suspect you mean the Civil War. If not back in the old west shooting humans was rather uncommon.

I don’t know about that - I got my info from watching “High Noon”, “Rio Lobo”, “Wagon Train”, “Paladin”, “How The West Was Won”, “The Rifleman”, “Shane”, and many more factual data I accumulated in my brain over the years.  Are you telling me I have been misinformed by Hollywood?  Nah, can’t be!  Why would they do that to us?  

Yeah you were more likely to die of boredom than if a bullet back then. The famous Lincoln County War lasted over 3 years but only resulted in 21 deaths. It really wasn't what Hollywood portrays, but reality was rather boring.

Just like today. As best I know no one has ever shot at me and for sure, if they did, they missed. 

jmonroe

driver100

henryn
A quick google search found this:
Pearse says Travelers calculates gap insurance premiums at roughly 5 percent to 6 percent of the premium for collision and comprehensive insurance you have on the car. On a $1,400 annual premium — with $420 to $560 of that typically for collision and comprehensive — gap insurance would cost $20 to $30. And the cost goes down along with the cost of collision and comprehensive as the vehicle ages

.

great info henryn. Mine cost about 5% when I had the 2015, now closer to 7 or 8% of cost of the premium. But, nice to have on a $72000 car, that probably would have been worth $55000 at the time of the accident, and the new one was closeer to almost $80k. I would have had to come up with $25000 difference!

driver100

abacomike said:

28firefighter said:

Wishing all of my fellow posters who celebrate a L’Shana Tovah U’Metukah - A happy, healthy, and sweet new year to you and your families!

Hmm, I’m just guessing here, but are you wishing (those who celebrate) a Happy New Year in Hebrew?  How “Honey” sweet! 

And happy Rosh Hashana to you all too!

driver100

Just like today. As best I know no one has ever shot at me and for sure, if they did, they missed.
jmonroe

That doesn't account for the one's who may have wanted to take a shot!

abacomike

I just got off the phone with one of my “walking” buddies who has season tickets to the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.  Dolphins won today but according to him it was miserable at the stadium.

He said the game started at 1:00 PM but shortly thereafter, they stopped the game due to lightning for almost an hour and after the start of the 2nd half, the game was delayed for another 2+ hours.  They finally finished around 8:00 PM.  Wish I could have seen the game - he said it was great seeing Tannehill at 100% after a 1-1/2 year recovery after his ACL tear.  There was a 102 yard kick-off return which was amazing according to him and a 75 yard TD pass from Tannehill.

Any of you guys able to watch the longest game in NFL history?

nyccarguy

28firefighter said:

Wishing all of my fellow posters who celebrate a L’Shana Tovah U’Metukah - A happy, healthy, and sweet new year to you and your families!

Happy New Year to all!

henryn

Unfortunately, I have been shot at. Long ago, in a galaxy far far away. Best forgotten.

I just set up Ubuntu as an alternate operating system on my main desktop. I am posting from there. Took me about 10 minutes to get this thing going with my new sign in. It kept wanting to go to the old sign in. I signed out, went to the main home page (Edmunds.com) and looked for the "Research" tab, and then "car forums". From there, I was finally able to sign in to the new site / new forums.



Forgive the poorly drawn arrow. I'm used to Snagit under windows, and haven't found a really good program yet under Ubuntu.

jmonroe1

driver100 said:

Just like today. As best I know no one has ever shot at me and for sure, if they did, they missed.
jmonroe

That doesn't account for the one's who may have wanted to take a shot!

Just like with car buying, if you don't buy you're not really in the game. Wanting is not enough, again, just like car buying, those are the tire kickers and test drivers. Better known as flakes.

jmonroe

abacomike

jmonroe1 said:

Just like today. As best I know no one has ever shot at me and for sure, if they did, they missed. jmonroe

That doesn't account for the one's who may have wanted to take a shot!

Just like with car buying, if you don't buy you're not really in the game. Wanting is not enough, again, just like car buying, those are the tire kickers and test drivers. Better known as flakes. jmonroe

From what I’ve been told by knowledgeable sources, a picture of me is posted in every luxury car dealership’s lounge with a tag line, “...if you see this guy in the showroom, he’s a buyer!  Call management immediately to implement a plan of attack!”

So, I guess I’m a player, not a tire-kicker, and definitely not a flake!

iluvmysephia1

https://money.cnn.com/2018/09/09/news/companies/ford-trump-twitter-ford-active/index.html

President Donald Trump offered some business advice to Ford Motor on Sunday: because of the administration's high tariffs on car imports from China, Ford can start making its Focus Active in the United States.

Breaking financial news from Ford: they tell Trump why they can't build their Focus Active in the U.S.


"It would not be profitable to build the Focus Active in the U.S. given an expected annual sales volume of fewer than 50,000 units," Ford said Sunday.

The statement came after Trump tweeted about an article from August 31, when Ford announced that it was canceling plans to make the Focus Active, a compact crossover, in China and ship them to the United States.

Allright, Don. Easy enough mistake ta make.

"This is just the beginning. This car can now be BUILT IN THE U.S.A. and Ford will pay no tariffs!" Trump wrote, citing a Reuters article posted on CNBC.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, including some automobiles, in a move Trump has touted as necessary to punish Beijing for what he says are its unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft. China has retaliated in kind, and Washington and Beijing have continue to ratchet up threats of more tariffs.

Ford spokesman Michael Levine said the Focus Active is built in Europe. The company had plans to begin making the vehicle in China in the latter half of 2019 and exporting them to the US market.

But Ford said last month that it was scrapping that plan because Trump's tariffs would make the cars too expensive.

The company also reaffirmed that it has no plans to start making the car on US soil. It will continue to sell the vehicle outside the states.

Sedans and other small cars are falling out of favor with Americans.

Ford already announced earlier this year that it would reallocate $7 billion of research and development funds from cars to SUVs and trucks. Executive James Farley said at an investor's conference in January that the carmaker's lineup is "shifting from cars to utilities."

It's not just Ford. All three Detroit automakers have made it clear that they're going all-in on SUVs and trucks.

Ford added in its statement that it's committed to "growing its U.S. vehicle lineup - including introducing all-new trucks, utilities, hybrids and fully electric vehicles."

The company said about 80% of the vehicles Ford sells in the United States are built domestically.

—CNN's Chris Isidore and Peter Valdes-Dapena contributed to this report.

CNNMoney (New York)
First published September 9, 2018: 3:42 PM ET

driver100

Ford calculates it can make a profit if the Focus is made in China.
The Pres KNOWS those cars could be built in the U.S.A.
Ford decides not to build the car in China or USA =less profit for Ford, probably less tax income for the government.

NOTE TO iluv: I replied to your post because it was general and of interest. I think you do owe everyone an apology.

qbrozen

Trying to keep this on cars, can anyone explain to me in simple terms why higher tarriffs on Chinese goods is a bad thing? Other than "it makes them more expensive for us."

I don't follow the news, and I'm not a global economy watcher. The only opinion I have on the matter is that I have always thought the imbalance of tarriffs unfair and that we should be charging exactly what other countries charge on our goods coming into their countries.

ab348

Interesting item in the local news here about peeling paint on Toyota RAV4s:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/vehicles-defects-paint-toyota-1.4814545

Shades of the 1990s!

driver100

qbrozen said:

Trying to keep this on cars, can anyone explain to me in simple terms why higher tarriffs on Chinese goods is a bad thing? Other than "it makes them more expensive for us."

I don't follow the news, and I'm not a global economy watcher. The only opinion I have on the matter is that I have always thought the imbalance of tarriffs unfair and that we should be charging exactly what other countries charge on our goods coming into their countries.

There is no problem with imposing tariffs on particular good at particular rates, if it is thought through and applied in a way that actually might be beneficial. Slapping tarriffs on everything with no thought causes a tariff war. No one wins a tariff war. And, it is very hard on business....they plan on buying supplies etc at certain costs. Then a monkey wrench is thrown into their business model.

Take one industry for example.....the building industry in Canada. Many buildings were planned, but, the estimated building cost has risen, because of the 25% tariff on steel. Many projects are on hold.

The Ford example is a good one. You can't expect businesses to invest, when the government steps in and changes the rules so drastically suddenly. Harley Davidson is a good example. Pres says consumer can buy something else if they don't build in the USA. Someone who wants an HD is not going to want something else.

Nothing wrong with changing the rules....but, it has to be done in a thoughtful way, usually with input from experts.

imidazol97

ab348 said:

Interesting item in the local news here about peeling paint on Toyota RAV4s:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/vehicles-defects-paint-toyota-1.4814545

Shades of the 1990s!

Search of internet comes up with many problems with paint.

https://www.google.com/search?q=paint+peeling+toyota+rav4&oq=paint+peeling+toyota+rav4&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.7997j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

driver100

ab348 said:

Interesting item in the local news here about peeling paint on Toyota RAV4s:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/vehicles-defects-paint-toyota-1.4814545

Shades of the 1990s!

Both owners are near the ocean. Maybe it has to do with salt in the air or something. Sometimes we get paint ruined by our steel company plants...when some pollutants escape.

Realistically though....the reply about not properly primed sounds like the answer. Hopefully Toyota will address the problem.

ab348

driver100 said:

Both owners are near the ocean. Maybe it has to do with salt in the air or something. Sometimes we get paint ruined by our steel company plants...when some pollutants escape.

While those effects may be true, one would think that they would be affecting all manufacturers to some extent in a similar way. I do not see many cars here with sheets of paint peeling away, certain decade-old Hondas excepted. The Toyota example strikes me as odd in that they built their rep by being supposedly bulletproof in quality and reliability and by standing behind their products over the long term. Their actions here sound more akin to Hyundai, Chrysler or Ford.

Also interesting in that the article references the Edmunds site in noting the paint issues, which would tend to indicate they are widespread.

imidazol97

ab348 said:

While those effects may be true, one would think that they would be affecting all manufacturers to some extent in a similar way. I do not see many cars here with sheets of paint peeling away, certain decade-old Hondas excepted. The Toyota example strikes me as odd in that they built their rep by being supposedly bulletproof in quality and reliability and by standing behind their products over the long term.

A Cincy radio car repair talk show had a call about something failing on Rav4. I tried to remember what it was but failed. The mechanic said that item has been a problem on some years and is showing up now. However, the same guy is always talking about how bulletproof the toyotas are and always bragging about how he loves them. And about how many he owns. He owns two shops that sell tires and do mechanical work.

Oh, he advertises for an area toyota store on his show--did I mention that?

All cars have problems. Sometimes people like to pretend there are none because the company has enough profits they can pay to fix things even after the original warranty period. And then people tend to think there were no transmission problems, e.g., in the car they had.

As to the paint, I recall GM paint problems on certain colors in the 80s IIRC were because PPG and others had manufacturer go to a different system. They used a primer and then a color coat over the primer followed by clear coat. The color coat let go of the primer. Earlier systems for paint had a primer followed by a bonding coat to let the color coat adhere to it. Then the clear coat. AND the color coat let go of the primer (or vice-versa). PPG was paying part of coat to recoat some vehicles. I think silver was one color that had more trouble than the others.


A search for images of toyota peeling paint gives this

https://www.google.com/search?q=toyota+paint+peeling&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjn_o_xybDdAhUn9YMKHVabAicQ_AUICigB&biw=1377&bih=650

fintail

If our brave accountable politicos who are trying to make things great (again?) had any stones, they'd also go after the real estate investment from certain areas they claim to be fighting on the trade front. Almost guaranteed not to happen, I know.

driver100

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

Both owners are near the ocean. Maybe it has to do with salt in the air or something. Sometimes we get paint ruined by our steel company plants...when some pollutants escape.

The Toyota example strikes me as odd in that they built their rep by being supposedly bulletproof in quality and reliability and by standing behind their products over the long term. Their actions here sound more akin to Hyundai, Chrysler or Ford.

I think imid hit it....no matter how good a car maker is, something can go wrong. Employee missed filling up paint can with primer. Or a new primer not formulated properly. Or primer ran out during the paint run. 1000s of things can go wrong when making a car...........IMHO Toyota still makes an excellent reliable car, I would be impressed if they fix the problem.

ab348

Exactly, it's not that things cannot go wrong during production, it is how the manufacturer reacts to put things right afterward. I just find it odd that a company with Toyota's reputation is shrugging their shoulders on this issue which is clearly due to a production problem.

imidazol97

There also is the cost factor. Some companies have had a profit advantage by being nonunion and having lots of cash to spend fixing problems that show up. That works very nicely because people tend to forget that their transmission went out of the AC compressor blew up in the middle of that trip to Phoenix last summer, when the manufacturer repairs it and even extends coverage after the warranty.

Some other companies have been strapped for cash to do those kinds of things. I frequent forums with questions about things that go wrong and I am appalled at the logic of many people who complain that the 18-year old car they bought used, e.g., has something going wrong that happens to others. AND then they complain that the manufacturer doesn't fix it free under a recall. When do people become responsible for things rather than somebody else's paying to fix it.

I just replaced the bushings on the lower control arms on my Cobalt at 130,000 miles. It tightened up the suspension control greatly and made the ride better as well as making the steering a little tighter. I never thought that GM should replace those bushings which tend to show wear on similar cars by 150,000 miles. I consider it maintenance.

berri

Toyota became American years ago. Honda seems far more likely to step up to issues from my experiences at least.
As for Ford, they aren't going to get into brick and mortar with their current financial situation; trucks and crossovers yield much larger profit margins, so converting a line to a low quantity, low margin car seems to reflect a lack of knowledge in manufacturing strategies or just a PR stunt. btw, if you look at steel right now, expanding production capacity is now more of an automation thing than a big jobs creator unfortunately.

PF_Flyer

henryn said:

Unfortunately, I have been shot at. Long ago, in a galaxy far far away. Best forgotten.

I just set up Ubuntu as an alternate operating system on my main desktop. I am posting from there. Took me about 10 minutes to get this thing going with my new sign in. It kept wanting to go to the old sign in. I signed out, went to the main home page (Edmunds.com) and looked for the "Research" tab, and then "car forums". From there, I was finally able to sign in to the new site / new forums.



Forgive the poorly drawn arrow. I'm used to Snagit under windows, and haven't found a really good program yet under Ubuntu.

Thanks for sharing and illustrating this. With the sheer number of browser/operating system combinations out there, sometimes I'm amazed that we can see anything, anywhere online

Honestly, there have only been a handful of folks with login issues, and given the number of new forums users we get each month, I think the whole process has been remarkably smooth.

So when you are sharing your automotive knowledge/expertise/enthusiasm here, just know that a LOT of eyeballs are on you. (No pressure...LOL) In an average week, over 600,000 forums pages are viewed here.

Stagefright anyone??

ab348

PF_Flyer said:

Honestly, there have only been a handful of folks with login issues, and given the number of new forums users we get each month, I think the whole process has been remarkably smooth.

It seems that if you were never here previously it works fine, but people who have been using the system for a while are the ones having issues.

Any news to report on the iPhone/Safari "page padding" fix?

Sandman6472

Yes, Happy New Year folks!! L'Shana Tovah!!

The Sandman

PF_Flyer

Me, I'm all about Arnie's birthday today, and celebrating with the traditional drink

ab348

Arnie was so great.

https://youtu.be/0rONXxy9kk0

iluvmysephia1

Exactly, it's not that things cannot go wrong during production, it is how the manufacturer reacts to put things right afterward. I just find it odd that a company with Toyota's reputation is shrugging their shoulders on this issue which is clearly due to a production problem.

And ab348, what's so interesting is that Toyota is not the kind of Company that turns away from imperfections on their assembly line. Quite the opposite. I didn't read the whole post though, perhaps I overlooked something important. No, Toyota is extremely a*&^ retentive with it's production process.

snakeweasel

PF_Flyer said:

Me, I'm all about Arnie's birthday today, and celebrating with the traditional drink

Since Arnold and myself were both sailors I will celebrate his birthday with some grog.

iluvmysephia1

Sorry everyone that I offended. That's twice in a year I've lost it in here. Maybe I need a VAC? Oh, that's right. I'm heading to Las Cruces in a few minutes, plus there's a 2017 Nissan Sentra SR Turbo 6-speed over another 400 miles west in Phoenix I want to test drive. I don't know if I've got the energy to do it today, I got up early, called the hospital Education Dept. to sign up for a BLS class, then called the Overhead Garage Door Company of Alamogordo to get an estimate. Good news: the service call was only $70 and the whole bill is going to only run about $100. I asked the young man to have the Office Manager send the bill to our mailing address. Our automatic garage door opener broke in a few places. I don't have the needed tools to fix it so I called them for help. The young man that fixed it is moving to Seattle in a couple months. He wants to live out of a RV and sell window stickers for cars up in Seattle. He said he could always work for an garage door company if he needed to!

But I didn't mean to offend - I know that you don't discuss sex, religion or politics in public. I'm truly sorry. graphicguy - I'm sorry, man. I know better and I'm irritated at myself for what I did. Sometimes I need to think before I type.

abacomike - you're another one I have offended. All I can say is I'm sorry. It is you that must decide if you can forgive me or not.

I have some strong views on religion. I will say this about the subject. It is a deep well, and if you dive into it and find what you want, and learn all about that subject, you'll never want to go back to how you were before. In fact, the Scriptures tell you not to go back to how you were before. So I'm just following what I believe in my heart - I love intensely from the heart. That's all. I won't say anything else about it. That's two strikes. 3 strikes I'm outta here.

PF_Flyer

It's also my oldest daughter's birthday today, and she and her hubby are up in the MA/NH area driving around on a little vacation. The both have flip phones, so MY phone keeps ringing as they call to have me check online when certain attractions open or close today. So now I get to spend the rest of the day answering my phone, "Hello, you've reached the internet!"

henryn

PF_Flyer said:

It's also my oldest daughter's birthday today, and she and her hubby are up in the MA/NH area driving around on a little vacation. The both have flip phones, so MY phone keeps ringing as they call to have me check online when certain attractions open or close today. So now I get to spend the rest of the day answering my phone, "Hello, you've reached the internet!"

Normally I wouldn't ask, but now that you've opened this particular can of worms: Why do they only have flip phones? I know a few elderly people who only have flip phones, but no younger people. None.

PF_Flyer

Cost may be a factor. I know I have my Tracfone Android phone because I think it's insane to spend several hundred dollars per month instead of the less than $8 I spend. They also just bought a house a year ago and have the same feelings about debt that I do, so I get that there are places you can economize. And I think they look at their phones sort of how I do... pretty much for emergency communications. Like if you get stuck on the road somewhere and need to call for assistance, or if the traffic is heavy and you want to let someone know you'll be late. Or to send a text to remind someone to get milk on the way home.

I bet I haven't made 10 phone calls in all the time I've had a cell phone, right from a "brick" through the flip phone, and now with the Android. Somehow, we're able to live life without being in constant communication with someone else. We also seems to be able to sit in a restaurant and not even think about getting our phones out.

Certainly different than most folks now... maybe we're the Croods

PF_Flyer

What makes it even stranger in my case is that I've worked exclusively online from home since 1994. So it's not about rejecting technology.

jmonroe1

PF_Flyer said:

It's also my oldest daughter's birthday today, and she and her hubby are up in the MA/NH area driving around on a little vacation. The both have flip phones, so MY phone keeps ringing as they call to have me check online when certain attractions open or close today. So now I get to spend the rest of the day answering my phone, "Hello, you've reached the internet!"

Another coincidence in here and man do we ever have them. Today is Son #1s birthday and tomorrow is Son #2's. They are 3 years apart. Their mother stopped buying them the same shirts but in different colors when they complained about it when they were still kids so last year she got them pants in different colors just to hear the gripping again. Their wife's put her up to it but it did get a friendly chuckle from everyone. This year she just wrote a couple checks.

jmonroe

henryn

PF_Flyer said:

What makes it even stranger in my case is that I've worked exclusively online from home since 1994. So it's not about rejecting technology.

If I'm at home, I have at least one computer running. I would never think of using a phone for the internet if there's a running computer in the next room, or even right in front of me. So we're in agreement on that. And I don't talk on the phone very much, and 90% of my texting is done on the computer through Google Voice.

But when I'm not at home, and don't have a computer with an internet connection readily available, being able to look up stuff on the phone is VERY handy. And it does not need to be expensive.

You can get a very nice 2 year old smartphone for well under $200. Heck, you can get a nice new smartphone for $250. And outfits like MintSim will sell you 2 gigabytes of data for $15 a month. If you're not streaming music and videos, you will never exceed 2 gigabytes. Period. My lunch today (quick and hurried in the cafeteria, no drink) cost me right at $11.

Sorry, I'm not buying it.

driver100

PF_Flyer said:

What makes it even stranger in my case is that I've worked exclusively online from home since 1994. So it's not about rejecting technology.

I get it! I have my cell phone connected in the car......nice for an emergency or to call Mrs. D to say I will be late for dinner. I use that phone about 4 times a month, for a total of about 8 minutes a month. It is a pay as you go, no data, phone was $70, it costs $100 a year, and I have accumulated about 400 minutes in 4 years.

I give your kids credit.....they are using their cell phones wisely, and not getting caught up in being addicted to their phones....like so many people these days.....and wise to be saving that money or using it for something more important.....which is almost everything!

driver100

iluvmysephia1 said:

But I didn't mean to offend - I know that you don't discuss sex, religion or politics in public. I'm truly sorry. graphicguy - I'm sorry, man. I know better and I'm irritated at myself for what I did. Sometimes I need to think before I type.
abacomike - you're another one I have offended. All I can say is I'm sorry. It is you that must decide if you can forgive me or not.

Thank goodness you apologized iluv, but, I sincerely hope you change your thinking on the subject - that is even more important. An apology, without a change in thinking, makes the apology a little empty. Like saying, "I am sorry I expressed my thoughts in public, OK if I keep my thoughts to myself though".

stickguy

Fine for them. But shouldn’t make it dads problem!

abacomike

PF_Flyer said:

Me, I'm all about Arnie's birthday today, and celebrating with the traditional drink

My son and grandsons drink nothing but!  I have empties that I use for my Crystal Lite Grape Drink to prove it!

abacomike

driver100 said:

But I didn't mean to offend - I know that you don't discuss sex, religion or politics in public. I'm truly sorry. graphicguy - I'm sorry, man. I know better and I'm irritated at myself for what I did. Sometimes I need to think before I type. abacomike - you're another one I have offended. All I can say is I'm sorry. It is you that must decide if you can forgive me or not.

Thank goodness you apologized iluv, but, I sincerely hope you change your thinking on the subject - that is even more important. An apology, without a change in thinking, makes the apology a little empty. Like saying, "I am sorry I expressed my thoughts in public, OK if I keep my thoughts to myself though".

Driver - why should he change his thinking?  He is a man of his beliefs.  How does one change deep rooted feelings and beliefs?  It’s all about how they are expressed and in what venue that is at issue here.

I don’t agree with his thinking because he expressed it here and he has apologized.  Forgiveness is “divine”, driver, but asking someone to change their thinking is unrealistic, if not overly condescending.

Enough has been said about this and I, for one, am going to let it rest.  I suggest we all do the same. 

carnaught

bump

berri

He got emotional and openly and sincerely apologized for that I think. Whether one agrees or not, sometimes it is just time to move on and forward. I believe a true Christian forgives. If we are honest, most everyone does things they wish in hindsight they hadn't done. Personally, I've never met a person that is perfect. America is a country founded on free thought and speech, so I'm on board with Abaco on this one.

imidazol97

iluvmysephia1

I think people forget to use their turn signals so often because they never learned to use them in the first place. Learning takes time - for whatever reason those folks never got it snapped up into their brain's "forever learned" banks. It makes driving a lot easier when people do drive like they have a clue where they're going, otherwise how are we supposed to know?

Some people just aren't aware of where other people are. Take the Wal*Mart aisles, for example. I used my AT&T $200 VISA gift card about an hour ago at Wal*Mart in Las Cruces to buy our very first big screen TV. I bought a 40" Sanyo LED HDTV for Wal*Mart's every day price of only $198. Gonna make our 2018 Seahawk games much more interesting! But while I was pushing the cart down the aisles I had to be extra vigilant with the cart. People don't intuitively move out of the way for you. In fact, some will just stay in your way!

roadburner

qbrozen said:

Trying to keep this on cars, can anyone explain to me in simple terms why higher tarriffs on Chinese goods is a bad thing? Other than "it makes them more expensive for us."

I don't follow the news, and I'm not a global economy watcher. The only opinion I have on the matter is that I have always thought the imbalance of tarriffs unfair and that we should be charging exactly what other countries charge on our goods coming into their countries.

Precisely.

roadburner

abacomike said:

Forgiveness is “divine”, driver, but asking someone to change their thinking is unrealistic, if not overly condescending.)

I could not agree more. I believe that "tolerance" has been redefined. It used to mean that you respected another person's beliefs even if you did not agree with them. Today tolerance means that you not only have to respect an opposing view, but you also must agree that it is as equally valid as your own opinion/belief. It's one way groupthink has gained a foothold in out national discourse.

driver100

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

iluvmysephia1 said:

But I didn't mean to offend - I know that you don't discuss sex, religion or politics in public. I'm truly sorry. graphicguy - I'm sorry, man. I know better and I'm irritated at myself for what I did. Sometimes I need to think before I type.
abacomike - you're another one I have offended. All I can say is I'm sorry. It is you that must decide if you can forgive me or not.

Thank goodness you apologized iluv, but, I sincerely hope you change your thinking on the subject - that is even more important. An apology, without a change in thinking, makes the apology a little empty. Like saying, "I am sorry I expressed my thoughts in public, OK if I keep my thoughts to myself though".

Driver - why should he change his thinking?  He is a man of his beliefs.  How does one change deep rooted feelings and beliefs?  It’s all about how they are expressed and in what venue that is at issue here.

I don’t agree with his thinking because he expressed it here and he has apologized.  Forgiveness is “divine”, driver, but asking someone to change their thinking is unrealistic, if not overly condescending.

Enough has been said about this and I, for one, am going to let it rest.  I suggest we all do the same.

 

I am just talking in general Mike, but, I am sensitive to apologies. When my son-in-law broke into our house and took our car he apologized "because I was upset he took the car". He apologized to Mrs D "because it must be upsetting for her, "because she has to put up with me when I am angry - I am sorry driver got mad". His (S-I-L) apology was an insult, the apology should be because he was a moron and a thief for the B&E and theft of the car....not because he upset me. What he is saying is he did nothing...it is my reaction he is sorry for. So, the words said are just as important as the apology itself.

I am glad an apology was at least given, I am not sure there is much understanding of why what was said was so wrong. That's fine.........I am finished talking about it. No problem.